


American Theatre Kid Gothic

by feralgayanddumbassaoyama, JamieGaylePiff



Category: Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T. S. Eliot
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Theatre, F/F, Gen, NaNoWriMo 2019
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 10:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21336754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feralgayanddumbassaoyama/pseuds/feralgayanddumbassaoyama, https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamieGaylePiff/pseuds/JamieGaylePiff
Summary: Eighth graders Jemima, Etcetera, Pouncival, Tumblebrutus, and Bill Bailey have been recruited by Alonzo to work on costumes for the high school's production of Chicago.(It's a high school theatre AU.)
Relationships: Etcetera/Jemima (Cats), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is based directly off of my own experiences, but feralgayanddumbassaoyama came up with the original idea, so theyre cocreator. but like. theatre is batshit, american public school is batshit, american public school theatre is extra batshit. anyways you will find this funny

"Are you  _ sure _ about this? Because, uh, I don't like meeting new people."

"I know, Jemima," Tumblebrutus said.

"Look, I have anxiety, okay?"

"I know, Jemima."

" _ Social _ anxiety. I need time to get used to people!"

"I know, Jemima," Tumblebrutus sighed. "It's mostly not going to be new people, though. It's Etcetera, Pounce, Bill, me, and a couple of high schoolers. I think you know them both, anyway."

"I do?"

"Yeah, Electra and-"

"Never heard of Electra, and you're crazy if you think I don't know the guy who asked us to join.  _ And _ I know which of our friends is doing this."

Tumblebrutus shrugged, and snuck a glance at the clock. There were five minutes until school let out, so he closed his laptop. His actions triggered a flurry of other students packing up, and he couldn't talk to Jemima again until they'd both gotten their things together.

"Anyways," he continued, "we're gonna meet the others in the cafeteria, and then Alonzo's gonna meet us outside of the high school and show us where the theatre is. There, we'll meet the rest of our team, and you'll meet Munkustrap, the stage manager."

"Okay but what're we like, actually gonna  _ do _ ?"

"I mean, it's just auditions. We don't really have anything  _ to _ do."

"Oh my God, you're  _ useless _ ," Jemima groaned. "Joking, I mean. Just, the late bus comes at four thirty, and I'm too perfect not to have ADHD."

"There's always homework."

"Ew."

Tumblebrutus laughed, and the bell rang.

Their substitute, Mr. DeMaio, didn't say anything, because he was asleep. 

The pair went from the art room to the second floor of the building to get their bags, since the middle school didn't allow students to carry backpacks with them. Their lockers weren't anywhere near each other's, unfortunately, so they had to split up. 

Jemima met up with Etcetera on her way to the cafeteria.

They grinned at each other, and Etcetera started talking, as she usually did.

"The gym's so  _ coooold _ ," she whined. "Like, I swear, my fingers are  _ icicles _ !"

"Oh no!" Jemima gasped. "Can I help warm them up?"

"I don't know how-"

Jemima grabbed Etcetera's hands, and the other girl shut up in favor of blushing.

"Is this helping?" Jemima asked.

"Yes!"

"Good." Jemima grinned, and Etcetera huffed to herself. She was  _ so _ smug. 

Stupid girls with stupidly warm hands. Stupid her and her stupid lesbianism. Actually, stupid her for being best friends with the most toothachingly sweet girl to exist.

"You should wear gloves," Jemima suggested. "Like, those leather fingerless gloves? They'd fit your aesthetic pretty well.

"No they  _ wouldn't _ ," Etcetera whined. "Leather gloves with a leather jacket would be  _ terrible _ . Also, I don't need gloves, I have a space heater to hold my hands whenever I want."

"True. Except we don't have the same gym class."

"Except that."

Etcetera briefly pouted, but brightened up when she saw the rest of her friends.

Bill Bailey was doing something stupid with Pouncival's hat, and Pouncival was trying desperately to get it back. Tumblebrutus was either watching them or texting, Etcetera couldn't tell. Pouncival spotted them first, though, and immediately abandoned his hat in favor of bouncing over to them. Bill Bailey, for his part, placed Pounce's hat firmly on his head.

"Ladies!" Pouncival greeted, with a jump-spin-bow combination maneuver. "Ready to work?"

"Never," Etcetera replied sagely. It was faintly ridiculous, from a thirteen year old in a too-big leather jacket with both hands firmly gripped by someone a full head taller than her.

"I'm with Cettie," Jemima agreed.

"I hear y'all. Ready to go, at least?"

Pouncival hopped back over to his brother and Bill Bailey, and Etcetera followed best she could while still attached to Jemima.

"Hurry  _ uuup _ ," Bill Bailey whined. "I wanna  _ gooo _ already, it's been for _ ever _ since I caught up with Electra!"

"You know her?" Jemima asked. "I don't think I do…."

"She changed her name, she's Victoria's redheaded friend," Pouncival explained.

"Oh, I do know her!"

Tumblebrutus shoved his phone in his pocket and then grabbed his twin's arm to pull him along. Bill Bailey ran outside, and Jemima let go of Etcetera's hands to follow him, so Etcetera followed to use Bill Bailey's shoulders as a springboard.

Pouncival wrestled out of Tumblebrutus' hold to steal his hat back from Bill Bailey, but Jemima got ahold of it before he had a firm grip on it. Pouncival shrieked and grabbed for it, but she laughed and ducked out of his reach.

In their way, the five moved from the middle school to the high school. It took a bit, but they usually moved like that, in stops and starts and races and fits of grappling. 

Tumblebrutus would've thought it was funner than just walking, if he knew that just walking was an option. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my brother wont read this bc qs theatrphobic please press f. anyways smash those like and subscribe buttons gamers

The bell rang in two minutes, and Tugger was bouncing his leg in anticipation. His things were packed up, but he was sitting down because-

" _ Don't crowd around the door! _ "

-his teacher was very loud.

Sitting across from him, Bombalurina was obviously just as anxious to go as him. She swiping at her phone, putting it down, looking at the clock, then trying to read her book before going back to the clock.

_ Score! _ One minute until they were let out.

Auditions for  _ Chicago _ had started that week, so Tugger had good reason to be anxious. At least, he thought he had a good  _ enough _ reason, even if he wasn't trying out himself.

After all, he was meeting his newest costume crew members today. Sure, he knew them all already, but he still had to show them around the space and tell them what being a member of costume crew even involved, and make sure they all knew each other, and see what other crew members were-

"Stop clicking your pen," Bombalurina said, and the bell rang.

A flurry of backpacks and stumbling out of seats, and then they were in the hallway, hanging back from the crowd so they could walk to the auditorium together.

"Wait a minute, I want to get something to eat," Bombalurina said, and Tugger whined.

"Bomba, my minions come today, I need to be there to meet them!"

"They're coming from the middle school, you can wait for me to get a snack."

"You already have me!"

"Thanks for the offer, but I have standards."

"You wound me."

"Shut up so I can count my quarters."

Tugger fell silent as Bombalurina fished several coins from her pocket and tallied them up. Satisfied, she inserted five into the vending machine and punched in the numbers for her food.

"Can I talk now?"

"No. Quiet."

Bombalurina ducked down to get her snack and flashed a grin at Tugger. He stuck his tongue out at her.

She stood and they started towards the auditorium.

"Remind me who you're going for again?" Tugger asked.

"Velma Kelly," Bombalurina replied through a mouthful of chips. "Demeter's going for Roxie, and I hate competing with her."

"Ew, ew, chew your food! Also, that's gay."

Bombalurina rammed him with her shoulder.

They didn't talk for the rest of the way to the auditorium.

"Break a leg," Tugger said, instead of an actual goodbye, and Bombalurina acknowledged him with a hum and a nod before hurrying into the theatre room.

Tugger did a slow spin until he saw his younger brother, then made a beeline for him.

"Keys," he demanded.

Munkustrap jumped, as did the girl he was talking to. She looked like a freshman, which meant she should have auditioned yesterday. Hopefully she'd just come to cheer on a friend, and had actually auditioned when she was supposed to.

"Here," Munkustrap said, shoving the keys at him. "You just need to unlock the closets, right?"

"Yeah, did Alonzo already go get the middle schoolers?"

Munkustrap nodded and went back to talking to the younger girl.

She looked really worried. 

Tugger unlocked the men's closet and turned on the lights. Was it even big enough for seven people? Probably, with the clothing racks out of the way.

Where was Electra? Unless her last class was science, she should've been there by now. 

Actually, he was pretty sure her last class  _ was _ science. Whoops. 

Tugger shoved the keys in his hoodie pocket and stepped back into the hall to throw down his backpack. When he turned back from the wall, though, someone had snuck up behind him.

He flinched and yelled, but Mistoffelees laughed so it was okay.

Mistoffelees really had the nicest laugh. It wasn't small or pretty, which was why Tugger liked it. Mainly it was sharp, and loud, and altogether painful to listen to because Mistoffelees had gone through a phase and promptly forgotten how he'd used to sound. 

"You  _ scared _ me," Tugger complained. Maybe he put a hand on his chest and swooned backwards a little. It would have been in character. 

"It was on purpose," Mistoffelees agreed. "You are very easy to scare."

Tugger pouted and opened his arms. Mistoffelees fell into the hug easy enough, and swatted at his boyfriend when Tugger's hand crept past his waist.

"I need to borrow your closet," Mistoffelees announced, pulling away. "I refuse to bind during my audition, and you should bully Munkustrap into changing, too."

"My love," Tugger gasped, "don't you know that what's mine is yours? My home is your home, my closet is your closet?"

"That's kind of gay," Mistoffelees said, and ducked into the closet before his boyfriend could respond.

Tugger, for his part, fell a little more in love.

He also really wanted to know where Electra was, because she should've been there five minutes ago. Her and Alonzo both.

Wait, maybe he was being too harsh, his phone was on silent. They'd probably texted.

They had both texted. Whoops.


End file.
